The overpaid and perenially underperforming Darin Erstad may really live to regret his latest injury, as the Angels have responded by bringing up top prospect Casey Kotchman from AA to take his place. Kotchman was batting .368 with power in Arkansas. At this point, Erstad's contract is really the only reason he still has a job anyway, but eventually the Angels may realize that the money is a sunk cost and send him somewhere where Erstad's decent batting averages, good glove in the outfield, speed and versatility can make him a useful bench player rather than a subpar everyday player.

The whole point of moving him to First base was to help prevent injuries. If that's not going to work I think they should put him back in the outfield and take advantage of his excellent defense in between trips to the DL.
It's his defensive skill and hustle on the field that are an asset to the team and hard to replace. The Angels have lots of bats that can replace Erstad's.

Posted by: Dave at
May 11, 2004 5:44 PM

The reason he moved to first was because of the Angel's log-jam in the outfield. His moving back to center would mean one of either Anderson/Guillen/Salmon/Guerrero would have to move to first.

I was of the opinion that Anderson should be the one to take over at first (he's big, left-handed, and athletic), but I don't think that was ever a consideration for the Angels. But anyone who plays first is just keeping it warm for Kotchman.